Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You risk your name on this psychedelic string quartet.
Things are very slow at first. Conventional venues aren't taking your
clients seriously. Unconventional venues, like clubs, aren't
interested in the music.
You vow to keep trying and arrange a free concert in the park. Your clients
aren't too happy about the "free" part, but they agree.
The quartet draws a lot of attention and catches the eye of a photographer
in the crowd, who decides to do a story on the group for a local paper. The
story runs on the front page. Pretty soon your phone is ringing with queries
about your new group.
Soon you've got enough bookings to last the next couple of months.
This is the real-life decision of arts manager Martin Mitchell.
"These guys were a contradiction and I think people found that really interesting,"
says Mitchell.
Arts managers must have excellent decision-making skills, says Harold Norris.
He is an arts manager. That's because they constantly face important
decisions that could impact the reputation of the artists they represent,
as well as their bottom line.
"Is this enough money, or is this important enough to their career?" says
Norris. "All those sorts of decisions have to be made fairly quickly, and
you have to be able to legitimize those decisions."